Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Peppermint stick ice cream

Elliott happens to be a master ice cream maker. He has developed a couple of different flavors, including sweet corn ice cream, an homage to our current place of dwelling.

A couple of winters ago, before he started making ice cream, we bought a pint of peppermint stick ice cream at a local ice cream shop, and I became addicted to a scoop in my hot chocolate. This year, Elliott came up with his own recipe for the ice cream, and it is so perfect, I had to share.

Because this ice cream has just a hint of peppermint, and is great on its own; or melting in a steaming cup of super dark cocoa hot chocolate (the one pictured below is from Cost Plus last year.)

Combine 1 cup of cream with the milk in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar and pinch of salt. Warm while occasionally stirring until the sugar melts. Meanwhile, pour the egg yolks into a bowl and whisk. When the milk/cream is warm, pour some into the bowl of yolks, and whisk it together. Add the cream/yolk mixture to the saucepan with the rest of the milk and cream. Cook over medium heat, while stirring, until the mixture reaches 175 degrees. Remove from heat. Pour the remaining cup of cream into a bowl. Put a fine sieve over the bowl, and pour the contents of the saucepan through the sieve into the bowl. Stir the contents of the bowl together and add the peppermint extract. Chill over an ice bath, then put into the refrigerator for several hours. Once it is completely chilled, churn it in your ice cream maker according to the machine's instructions. Add the crushed candy canes at the very end of the churning process. Put into the freezer to set.